I got to teach my daughters basic economic lessons this week – namely the difference between fixed costs and opportunity costs. I couldn’t have done it without Delta Air Lines, CrowdStrike and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The lesson? Sometimes you have to waste money if you want to accomplish a goal. In this case, I wanted to go home – and Delta wasn’t going to get me there.
I had been away for work for most of last week. I was missing my family and eager to be with them.
Then Crowdstrike’s software update snarled the Windows-based world. I’ve been an Apple user for decades so nary a blip on my screen – that was, until I tried to fly home.
I’ve rarely been on flights that got canceled, so I have the confirmation biases of the fortunate flyer. Plus, I was flying to LaGuardia, an airport that surely would be up and running.
All looked good on Saturday – and then Delta started sending me alerts and rebooking me. Each one pushed my flight from Jacksonville to New York back by 90 minutes or so – all routing me through Atlanta. When I was set to arrive at midnight, I rethought boarding: 1) I didn’t want to get trapped in Atlanta, and 2) I didn’t want to land so late that I’d fall asleep driving home.
So, I called American Express Travel who booked me on an American Airlines flight through Philadelphia for the next day. Not ideal but better than getting stuck in Atlanta.
Here’s where the economics lesson started. I asked Delta for a refund and just as Pete Buttigieg promised, Delta refunded me half of my round-trip fair: $128.84. It was quick.
It was also nowhere near what a ticket would cost to get me home this week. That would be $577.98 for a one-way ticket on American.
The Department of Transportation requiring airlines to waive the rebooking fees only counted if I rebooked on Delta. Sensible from a corporate point of view – if Delta were able to fly people or its systems were working to change my flight. Neither was true.
“Daddy, when are you coming home?” my 12-year-old daughter asked.
“I hope today,” I said.
She’s a great consumer of the NBC News so had seen the photos of furious flyers trapped in wild locales. Or Atlanta.
I was fortunate not to have to pay for another night where I was. But I did have to pay for another day of eating out. I also had to pay National Car Rental $153.24 for an extra day, which was galling because the first four days of the car had only cost me $387.00.
American got me to Philadelphia and on to LaGuardia. It cost me $700 extra. Now today, Delta sent me an email saying they would reimburse some of these expenses. That’s great.
But the lesson still stands for my daughters: when you fixate on the fixed costs – my Delta round-trip ticket – you might overlook the opportunity cost – of not just getting home to my daughters but being there for my wife on a super busy week for her. That’s not a reimbursable expense.
